Application FormClick here to download the fee schedule and application form for the Board of Adjustment.

Pending ApplicationsClick on this page to view pending applications with the Board.

Staff Reports
Click here to view the staff reports for the most recent Board of Adjustment cases. Function & AuthorityThe Memphis and Shelby County Board of Adjustment hears five types of requests:

variances from specific provisions of the Unified Development Code (the "UDC," which serves as the zoning code and subdivision regulations for the City of Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County) when exceptional circumstances and practical difficulties or undue hardships are demonstrated by the applicant;

conditional use permits for a select number of uses articulated in Article 2 of the UDC;

Established in 1925 by a Private Act passed by the Tennessee General Assembly, the Board of Adjustment is both the oldest appointed governmental body in Memphis and Shelby County and the oldest administrative zoning board in the State of Tennessee. Click here to download a memorandum that summarizes the history of the Board, which includes important pieces of legislation, case law and newspaper articles related to the Board. Click here to view the 2014 Annual Report.
Old CasesThe Zoning Atlas contains many Board of Adjustment cases, but most of these are dated 2000-present. Click here for a complete index of all 13,000 cases heard by the Board since 1925. Click here for instructions on how to use the case index. Please contact OPD staff to assist in retrieving old cases from the Board of Adjustment files.

Rules of Procedure Click here to download the Rules of Procedure for the Board of Adjustment.

MembersThe Memphis and Shelby County Board of Adjustment is composed of eight members, each of whom serve three-year terms (click on the member's name to send an email):

The following individuals have been approved as alternates, eligible for temporary, 30-day appointments (go to the Land Use Control Board home page for these individuals' email addresses): Robert Norcross, Margaret Pritchard, Mary Sharp, James Toles, Emily Trenholm and Mark Yates. This eligibility list was approved by the Memphis City Council as Agenda Item 33 during their August 24, 2010, meeting.

Click here to view a table that lists all members of the Board, 1925-present.

The Secretary acts as the lead staff person to the Board. While there were separate City and County Boards up until 1970, the Boards always had a common Secretary and staff. For many years, L.P. Cockrill served as Secretary. He was styled alternatively as "Planning-Engineer" and "Engineer-Secretary," reflecting his formal training as an engineer. He died while in office in 1948. There were no formal appointments to the position of Secretary until 1956, when the Memphis and Shelby County Planning Commission was created. From 1956 to 1970, the role of Secretary was filled by various members of the Planning Commission. As Thomas Wellman's resignation indicates, the Planning Commission was somewhat short-staffed during this time period. After Fred Davis' retirement in 1968, Robert Stacey was appointed Secretary. He would serve as the first Secretary of the new Joint Board in 1970. By the time the Office of Planning and Development was created to replace the Planning Commission, the Board of Adjustment Secretary and staff were no longer in the Planning Commission and instead placed under the Division of Public Service, which also housed the Building Department. This was the result of a joint ordinance/resolution passed by the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Quarterly Court in 1969. In many communities, the Board of Zoning Appeals is staffed by the Building Department. Robert Stacey retired in 1977 to focus on a company he had started in his spare time in 1963: Handy Maps. He was replaced by James Springfield, Jr., who resigned in 1981. Anita Forrester served as the Secretary for nearly 20 years until the Board was reunited with the planning department in 2001. As Deputy Director of Land Use Controls at the Office of Planning and Development, Mary Baker took over the role of Secretary until her retirement in 2010.